LINCOLN  ROOM 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
LIBRARY 


MEMORIAL 

the  Class  of  1901 

founded  by 

HARLAN  HOYT  HORNER 

and 

HENRIETTA  CALHOUN  HORNER 


LINCOLN'S    LEGACY 

A    Tribute   to 
The    World's    Great   Commoner 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2012  with  funding  from 

University  of  Illinois  Urbana-Champaign 


http://archive.org/details/lincolnslegacytrOOarth 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN 


LINCOLN'S  LEGACY 


A  Tribute  to 
The  World  9s  Great  Commoner 


SAMUEL  J.  ARTHUR 
ILLUSTRATED 


ARTIetV€RIWTl 


BOSTON 

RICHARD    G.    BADGER 
THE    GORHAM    PRESS 


Copyright  1923  by  Richard  G.  Badger 
All  Rights  Reserved 


The  frontispiece  is  reproduced  through  the  courtesy 

of  Messrs.  Underwood  &  Underwood, 

owners  of  the  copyright. 


Made  in  the  United  States  of  America 
The  Gorham  Press,  Boston,  U.  8.  A. 


DEDICATED 

BY    THE   AUTHOR 

TO 

THE    FOUNDERS,    PROMOTERS, 

AND    PRESERVERS 

OF    THE    FUNDAMENTAL 

PRINCIPLES   AND    IDEALS 

OF  THE 

AMERICAN   UNION 


PREFACE 


This  little  book  was  born  of  a  profound  esteem 
and  an  affectionate  regard  for  the  memory  of  the 
beloved  Lincoln.  He  has  always  seemed  to  the 
writer  of  this  tribute  to  be  a  man  in  whom  the 
purposes  of  God  were  peculiarly  apparent.  While 
saying  little  of  being  governed  by  the  standards  of 
religion  or  conforming  to  the  convictions  of  the 
Christian  faith,  Lincoln's  whole  life  seems  like  a 
resplendent  chapter  from  the  archives  of  the 
Eternal. 

In  the  hope  that  it  may  contribute  in  some  de- 
gree to  the  honor  of  this  greatest  American  and 
that  it  may  help  to  preserve  the  Americanism 
which  he  so  nobly  exemplified,  the  author  pre- 
sents this  "American  Gift  Book"  to  the  American 
people. 

S.  J.  A. 
Erie,  Pennsylvania. 
September,  1923. 


CONTENTS 


The  Gettysburg  Address 11 

Abraham  Lincoln 15 

Lincoln— 1809-1865 19 

Lincoln's  Legacy 25 

Letter  to  Mrs.  Bixby 41 


11 


THE  GETTYSBURG  ADDRESS 


THE  GETTYSBURG  ADDRESS 


Fourscore  and  seven  years  ago  our  fathers 
brought  forth  on  this  continent  a  new  nation  con- 
ceived in  liberty,  and  dedicated  to  the  proposition 
that  all  men  are  created  equal. 

Now  we  are  engaged  in  a  great  civil  war,  test- 
ing whether  that  nation,  or  any  nation  so  con- 
ceived and  so  dedicated,  can  long  endure.  We  are 
met  on  a  great  battlefield  of  that  war.  We  have 
come  to  dedicate  a  portion  of  that  field  as  a  final 
resting-place  for  those  who  here  gave  their  lives 
that  that  nation  might  live.  It  is  altogether  fitting 
and  proper  that  we  should  do  this. 

But  in  a  larger  sense,  we  cannot  dedicate — we 
cannot  consecrate — we  cannot  hallow — this 
ground.  The  brave  men,  living  and  dead,  who 
struggled  here,  have  consecrated  it  far  above  our 
poor  power  to  add  or  detract.  The  world  will 
little  note  nor  long  remember  what  we  say  here, 
but  it  can  never  forget  what  they  did  here.  It  is 
for  us,  the  living,  rather,  to  be  dedicated  here  to 
the  unfinished  work  which  they  who  fought  here 
have  thus  far  so  nobly  advanced.    It  is  rather  for 


15 


The  Gettysburg  Address 


us  to  be  here  dedicated  to  the  great  task  remaining 
before  us — that  from  these  honored  dead  we  take 
increased  devotion  to  that  cause  for  which  they 
gave  the  last  full  measure  of  devotion;  that  we 
here  highly  resolve  that  these  dead  shall  not  have 
died  in  vain;  that  this  nation,  under  God,  shall 
have  a  new  birth  of  freedom;  and  that  govern- 
ment of  the  people,  by  the  people,  for  the  people, 
shall  not  perish  from  the  earth. 


16 


ABRAHAM     LINCOLN 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


Child  of  the  boundless  prairie, 

Son  of  the  virgin  soil, 

Heir  to  the  bearing  of  burdens, 

Brother  to  them  that  toil; 

God  and  nature  together 

Shaped  him  to  lead  in  the  van, 

In  the  stress  of  her  wildest  weather 

When  the  nation  needed  a  man. 

Eyes  of  a  smoldering  fire, 
Heart  of  a  lion  at  bay, 
Patience  to  plan  for  tomorrow, 
Valor  to  serve  for  today; 
Mournful  and  mirthful  and  tender, 
Quick  as  a  flash  with  a  jest, 
Hiding  with  gibe  and  with  laughter 
The  ache  that  was  dull  in  his  breast ! 

Met  were  the  man  and  the  hour — 
Man  who  was  strong  for  the  shock! 
Fierce  were  the  lightnings  unleashed ; 
In  the  midst  he  stood  fast  as  a  rock. 


19 


Abraham  Lincoln 


Comrade  he  was,  and  commander, 
He  who  was  meant  for  the  time; 
Iron  in  council  and  action, 
Simple,  aloof  and  sublime. 

Swift  slip  the  years  from  their  tether, 
Centuries  pass  like  a  breath ; 
Only  some  lives  are  immortal, 
Challenging  darkness  and  death. 
Hewn  from  the  stuff  of  the  martyrs, 
Write  in  the  star-dust  his  name, 
Glowing,  untarnished,  transcendent, 
High  on  the  records  of  fame! 

Margaret  E.   Sangster 


20 


L    I    N    C 

1809    — 


O    L    N 

1865 


LINCOLN 

1809  —  1865 


Abraham  Lincoln  was  born  of  Quaker  ances- 
try in  Hardin  County,  Kentucky,  February  12th, 
1809.  His  father,  Thomas  Lincoln,  was  a  man 
of  no  education  and  indifferent  prestige.  His 
mother,  Nancy  Hanks,  was  a  young  woman  of 
Christian  character,  some  education  and  possessed 
of  not  a  little  instinctive  refinement.  She  died 
soon  after  the  family  moved  to  Spencer  County, 
Indiana,  and  when  Abraham  was  only  nine  years 
of  age.  Thomas  Lincoln  subsequently  married 
Sarah  Rush  Johnson  who  proved  a  wise,  practi- 
cal and  much  loved  foster  mother  to  this  grow- 
ing youth.  His  school  privileges  were  limited 
but  the  young  Lincoln  was  a  reader,  a  student  and 
a  hard  worker.  His  candid  mind,  his  humorous 
spirit,  and  his  physical  prowess  made  him  a  pop- 
ular hero.  He  enlisted  in  the  Black  Hawk  war. 
He  made  a  business  trip  on  a  flat  boat  down  the 
Mississippi  to  New  Orleans  where  he  witnessed 
some  of  the  iniquity  of  slavery.  He  kept  a  little 
country  store  and  post  office  at  New  Salem.  He 
studied  law.    He  was  married  to  Miss  Mary  Todd 


23 


Lincoln— 1809-1865 


in  1842.  He  was  elected  to  Congress  in  1846.  He 
held  a  famous  debate  with  Stephen  A.  Douglas  on 
state  rights  and  the  issues  of  slavery.  He  was 
nominated  for  the  presidency  at  the  Republican 
convention  in  Chicago  in  May,  1860,  and  elected 
in  November  of  same  year.  Soon  the  sentiments 
that  had  long  been  seething  and  threatening  seces- 
sion broke  out  in  overt  acts  of  disloyalty.  Fort 
Sumpter  fell.  Soon  civil  war  became  a  frightful 
reality  and  continued  so  for  four  years.  Equal 
bravery  and  resourcefulness  were  displayed  by 
North  and  South.  There  were  many  notable  en- 
gagements, the  most  notable  perhaps  being  that 
of  Gettysburg,  Pa.,  in  July,  1863.  Lincoln  was 
again  nominated  and  elected  in  1864.  In  April, 
1865,  came  the  surrender  of  General  Robert  E. 
Lee  at  Appomatox,  Va.  The  President,  the  Cabi- 
net, and  the  country  were  profoundly  moved. 
Plans  were  immediately  getting  under  way  for 
the  relief  and  rehabilitation  of  the  stricken  states, 
North  and  South,  when  the  President  fell,  April 
14th,  shot  by  an  assassin,  John  Wilkes  Booth,  a 
fanatical  adherent  of  secession.  Lincoln  died 
next  morning  in  a  private  house  opposite  the  Ford 


24 


BIRTHPLACE  AND  EARLY  HOME 
From   a   Sketch   by  J.  Wanda  Arthur 


Lincoln— 1809-1865 


Theatre,  to  which  he  had  been  carried  the  previ- 
ous night.  On  May  4th  his  remains  were  de- 
posited in  Oakland  Cemetery,  Springfield,  111., 
attended  by  all  the  expressions  of  love  and  esteem 
that  the  Republic  could  bestow.  Mr.  Lincoln 
was  a  devout  Christian  believer,  cherishing  the 
tenets  and  the  sentiments  of  the  evangelical  faith. 
In  his  boyhood  and  youth  he  attended  with  his 
father  and  mother  and  sister  Sarah,  the  services 
of  the  Pigeon  Creek  Baptist  Church  in  Indiana 
where  they  held  membership  and  where  the  senior 
Lincoln  was  honored  in  appointment  to  the  mod- 
eratorship  of  the  little  Christian  assembly,  and 
though  Lincoln  never  united  with  any  church  it 
is  a  well-known  fact  that  while  in  Washington  he 
was  a  devoted  attendant  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  and  always  showed  the  profoundest  re- 
spect for  the  Bible  and  the  teachings  and  prin- 
ciples of  the  Christian  faith. 


25 


LINCOLN'S    LEGACY 


LINCOLN'S   LEGACY 


Full  fifty  years  and  more  ago 

A  tall  ungainly  man 

Came  out  the  thinly  peopled  West; 

Rugged  and  plain  was  he 

With  soul  unspoiled, 

A  strong,  a  stalwart  man ; 

No  heritage  of  wealth  or  fame 

Did  blaze  his  way 

Nor  rank  nor  culture  lend  a  hand 

But  round  that  lowly  home 

The  fear  of  God  like  angel  sentinel 

Did  watch  both  night  and  day 

Nor  left  that  cabin  door, 

Where  God  a  man  would  make 

For  Freedom's  day. 

As  son  of  toil  he  walked  its  way 

Nor  thought  it  strange  its  yoke  to  wear, 

And  thus  the  youth  to  manhood  came. 

His  vision  grew  and  early  saw 

That  boasted  freedom 

Yet  had  much  to  learn 

And  leagues  to  go  on  Freedom's  soil; 

And  soon  beside  upstanding  men 


29 


Lincoln's  Legacy 


He  found  his  place 

And  then  the  fight  for  state 

And  human  rights  began. 

Soon  West  and  East  beneath  his  banner  stood 

In  common  cause, 

'Twas  crisis  hour:  "Let  Lincoln  lead 

There's  none  but  he 

The  ship  of  state  can  guide  on  such  a  sea." 

And  lingering  still  in  shadow  land 

Are  some — with  visage  dim — • 

Who  saw  this  deathless  man 

E'en  pressed  his  hand  and  found  it  warm 

His  brother's  grief  to  share. 

They  fervid  tell  just  how  he  looked  and  talked 

And  walked — or  rather  strode, 

They  tell  with  pride  of  Lincoln  deeds 

And  while  they  muse  and  dream 

And  live  again  those  nameless  days 

We  ask  if  they  can  solace  give 

For  ills  that  vex  to-day 

They  start.    They  wake.    They  cannot  brook 

delay, 
"Let  Lincoln  lead;  let  Lincoln  lead  to-day!" 


30 


Lincoln's  Legacy 


So  if  they  wake  or  dream  'tis  one 

They  can't  forget  the  kindly  face 

And  towering  form — 

They  hear  again  with  eager  zest 

The  homely  wit 

With  grace  and  wisdom  weighed 

That  sagest  counsel  gave 

When  counsels   failed 

And  saved  the  day. 

No  college  halls 

Can  boast  this  peerless  son 

— He  rose  from  out  the  ground 

— Alumnus  of  the  soil — 

In  youth  few  days  at  school 

And  fewer  still  his  books 

But  these  he  mastered  well; 

The  tutorship  of  daily  toil 

Did  help  him  on 

He  shared  the  toilers'  tasks 

Their  needs  he  made  his  own 

And  with  sublimest  faith 

He  pled  their  cause. 

Their  yoke  he  daily  wore 


31 


Lincoln's  Legacy 


And  with  their  load  he  staggered  on; 

The  black  man's  burden  bore  him  down 

But  as  of  old  the  lighted  way 

Revealed  a  shadowed  cross 

Far  up  the  high  ascent 

And  though  with  visage  marred 

And  bruised  his  soul  with  grief 

Yet  Lincoln  faltered  not 

He  walked  right  on 

Like  one  divinely  led 

And  looked  not  back 

But  onward  pressed 

And  conquering  reached  the  goal. 

Kentucky  little  knew 

How  high  that  Lincoln  name  would  climb 

In  days  to  come,  nor  guessed 

That  from  that  cabin  door 

God's  chosen  man  would  rise 

To  lead  a  nation  through 

Its  darkest  night. 

But  now  Kentucky  knows 

The  place  she  holds  and  dares  be  proud. 

Her  lowly  son  takes  lofty  place 


32 


Lincoln's  Legacy 


In  hall  of  fame 

And  high  and  low  in  one  accord 

Admit  this  man  of  men 

To  primal  place,  yea  place  alone 

'Mid  heights  that 

Sons  of  men  have  gained. 

As  long  as  diadems  are  placed 

On  noble  brows 

So  long  will  Lincoln's  head 

Bear  fairest  tribute  of  a  nation's  love. 

The  black  man  bares  his  head 

And  mumbles  something  soft  and  low 

At  merest  mention  of  the  treasured  name; 

He  acts  like  one  in  worship 

Bowing  low  before  some  holy  shrine 

Where  earth's  devoted  souls 

Pay  silent  tribute  to  their  sainted  dead. 

'Tis  passing  strange 

This  name  compels  all  ranks  of  men 

To  halt  as  though  the  flame 

From  out  the  burning  bush 

Did  burn  again. 

What  meaneth  this? 


33 


Lincoln's  Legacy 


Is  not  this  Lincoln  common  clay? 

Where  then  the  secret  of  this  superman? 

The  mystery  in  part  dissolves : 

Tis  this,  that  "Honest  Abe" 

Let  God  take  hold  his  hand 

And  lead  him  on  and  on 

Until  a  nation's  woes  became  his -own: 

And  thus  it  was  this  awkward  youth 

That  learned  to  "figure  to  the  rule  of  three' 

Did  grow  till  highest  gift 

His  nation  could  bestow 

Was  laid  at  Lincoln's  feet. 

He  served  both  God  and  man. 

And  served  them  well; 

The  passing  years  proclaim 

The  verdict  true 

The  light  that  lit  the  stars 

Was  Lincoln's  guide. 

No  tome  but  one 

Could  satisfy  his  soul: 

Both  day  and  night 

He  pondered  well  its  page 

And  in  sublimest  faith 


34 


Lincoln's  Legacy 


He  walked  its  way; 

Yet  hour  of  darkness  came. 

Fort  Sumpter's  guns  announced  the  gloom- 

The  South  from  North 

Would  severed  be  and  go  its  way; 

Tis  fateful  hour; 

Shall  half  be  slave  and  half  be  free? 

The  house  divided  courts  a  fall 

But  Lincoln  prayed. 

He  knew  that  God  alone 

Could   save  the  day: 

To  Him  he  turned 

With  childhood's  faith  and  plea 

He  pled  nor  pled  in  vain 

The  crisis  onward  came, 

The  clouds  were  thickening  fast, 

He  saw  the  storm.    It  soon  must  break, 

Yet  Lincoln  calmer  grew, 

He  faced  his  task 

Like  one  who  saw  beyond  the  storm 

To  days  of  calm.    They  came, 

Their  sun  arose  but  he  went  down 

— Went  down  in  blood — his  own 


35 


Lincoln's  Legacy 


That  spoke  for  Freedom's  cause 

A  work  well  done — 

The  Union  saved !    Thank  God ! 

This  heritage  remains: 

'Tis  Lincoln's  legacy 

His  last  and  best  resolve 

His  soul's  bequest 

And  though  the  Southern  sceptre  is  no  more, 

Nor  more  its  claims, 

The  South  as  well  as  North 

Doth  share  in  freedom's  dower — 

One  flag,  the  "Stars  and  Stripes" — 

Shall  now  defended  and  defender  be, 

For  this  he  lived.    For  this  he  died. 

This  crown  he  wears  today, 

'Twas  God  that  put  it  there 

And  there  it  stays. 

For  none  can  it  remove 

And  what  a  crown ! 

Three  million  slaves  made  free 

To  take  their  part  in  noblest  nationhood. 

And  now  'tis  theirs  to  call 

Their  souls  and  toil  their  own. 


36 


Lincoln's  Legacy 


Of  this  they  sing.    Their  sunny  South 

Resounds  with  freedom's  name. 

Tis  matchless  melody, 

The  weirdly  chanted  strains 

Regale  the  ears  of  silent  night. 

From  nearest  hut  and  farthest  cabin  door 

That  chorus  swells.    'Tis  song  of  jubilee, 

A  race  is  free !    The  lonely 

And  far-seeing  man  his  "Via  Dolorosa"  walked 

And  when  that  way  he  passed 

And  Freedom's  birth  anew  proclaimed, 

Oh  God  in  heaven!    What  darkness  fell 

When  foul  assassin  laid  him  low! 

'Twas  then  the  pall  of  night — Egyptian  gloom 

— O'er  spread  the  land  and  men  did  feel  their  way 

And  mutely  stretched  appealing  hands 

To  throne  above; 

And  God  did  heed 

For  North  and  South  in  common  grief 

Their  strife  forgot 

And  bending  low  their  silent  homage  paid 

To  chieftain  gone. 

And  soon  a  stricken  world 


37 


Lincoln's  Legacy 


Did  ask  a  place — a  mourner's  place 

Beside  a  martyr's  bier. 

And  though  he  prostrate  lies 

In  wakeless  sleep 

His  words  and  spirit  too  are  here 

Are  here  in  mystic  might 

In  Freedom's  name  to  carry  on: 

Their  impact  shakes  the  earth, 

Their  time  has  come 

And  near  and  distant  lands 

Alike  confess 

That  this  triumphant  soul 

Held  high  the  torch 

That  lit  the  way 

For  states  and  statesmen  too 

To  plant  a  Freeman's  flag 

On  every  height 

That  feet  of  men  have  gained. 

And  now  though  "Massa"  Lincoln  sleeps 

And  takes  his  rest 

His  work  goes  on. 

The  fadeless  name  exerts  its  mystic  spell 

The  world  around; 


38 


Lincoln's  Legacy 


Like  lunar  planet  moving  ocean  tide 

It  moves  the  mass ; 

As  wand  in  hand  unseen 

It  wearies  not; 

That  wondrous  loom  of  life 

That  Lincoln  wove  is  weaving  still 

Tis  fair  design. 

The  Lincoln  brand  has  come  to  stay, 

Full  soon  'twill  find  its  place 

'Neath  every  flag 

Nor  will  it  fade  nor  fail 

But  stand  the  test 

That  time  and  truth  in  every  land 

Impose  on  proudest  claims  of  men. 

For  honest  men  must  rule  the  day 

Though  long  delayed, 

And  foremost  name 

When  virtue's  roster's  called — 

'Tis  plain,  'tis  written  large 

That  all  may  see  and  know 

'Tis  "Abram  Lincoln"  yes,  'tis  "Honest  Abe," 

The  friend  of  common  man 

Of  common  men  the  King. 


39 


Lincoln's  Legacy 


The  ages  claim  him  now 

The  earth's  bereft, 

It  was  to  be. 

The  crude  and  cultured  courts  of  men 

The  world  around 

Are  rich  in  legends  of  a  people's  man 

— A  King — who'd  rule  without  a  crown. 

He  came ; 

Like  One  of  old 

Though  hating  not  was  loved  and  hated  too 

And  when  his  work  was  done 

He  sped  to  worlds  unknown 

And  so  our  crownless  King 

Has  come  and  gone 

And  yet  remains. 

The  North  and  South  alike 

Proclaim  this  kingly  man. 

They  feel  that  wondrous  spell 

That  spell  that  went  from  man  to  man 

When'er  he  rose  to  speak 

In  Freedom's  name 

Or  plead  the  cherished  cause. 

The  world  its  homage  pays 


40 


\*l  .,..•»* 


mm. 


THE  LINCOLN  MEMORIAL 


Lincoln's  Legacy 


And  says  a  martyr's  head 
Should  wear  a  martyr's  crown. 
And  thus  the  martyred  Lincoln 
Holds  immortal  place 
With  none  to  say  him  nay, 
The  foremost  soul  'mid  ranks 
Of  tutored  and  untutored  men. 


41 


LETTER    TO    MRS.    BIXBY 


LETTER  TO  MRS.  BIXBY 


This  letter,  written  by  Mr.  Lincoln  to  Mrs. 
Bixby  of  Boston,  explains  itself : 

A  copy  of  the  letter  has  been  placed,  says  the 
Philadelphia  Ledger,  in  one  of  the  Oxford  Univer- 
sity Halls  as  a  specimen  of  pure  English  and 
elegant  diction. 

"Dear  Madam : — I  have  been  shown  in  the  files 
of  the  war  department  a  statement  of  the  adjutant 
general  of  Massachusetts  that  you  are  the  mother 
of  five  sons  who  have  died  gloriously  in  the  field 
of  battle.  I  feel  how  weak  and  fruitless  must  be 
any  words  of  mine  which  should  attempt  to  be- 
guile you  from  the  grief  of  a  loss  so  overwhelm- 
ing. But  I  cannot  restrain  from  tendering  to  you 
the  consolation  that  may  be  found  in  the  thanks 
of  the  Republic  they  died  to  save.  I  pray  that  our 
Heavenly  Father  may  assuage  the  anguish  of  your 
bereavement,  and  leave  you  only  the  cherished 
memory  of  the  loved  and  lost,  and  the  solemn 
pride  that  must  be  yours  to  have  laid  so  costly  a 
sacrifice  upon  the  altar  of  freedom. 

"Yours  very  sincerely  and  respectfully, 

"ABRAHAM  LINCOLN." 


45 


* 


mm 


I 


9 


il 


